Allan_G
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Chapter 99 – Confused Decision
🕑 Added 2024-09-17 22:00:06 +0000 UTCTom once more felt the flutter of excitement combined with the dread of failure. In front of him, the disk had come up with a one for the fifth time in a row.
Nine, he reminded himself. I need nine of them in a row.
That was the number he had chosen before he had spent his fate and started flipping the disk, and he wondered if this would be the duel where he finally achieved victory without a GOD’s shield and claimed sixteen points. Two more flips came up positive and then an eighth toss as well. His stomach was doing mini-flips as he held up the disk.
This was it. It was happening!
One more successful throw and then he would commit himself to his first life and death match. At least in the competition proper. What he had done in the contenders contest didn’t count, it had not been against elites. And forgoing a GOD’s shield did not necessarily mean death if he lost. If his opponents were shielded, then so would he be. Each individual fight only had a low chance of actually being a death match, but if you played Russian roulette a hundred times, then eventually you would blow your brains out.
“I wonder what having spatial storage again will feel like?” he asked and then grinned. It was such a naughty question. Basically, it was him spending the money before he had it, but if he got the coins that was what he was going to get and then possibly if there was sufficient left over some weird affinity magical shield to give him some level of protection against ranged attacks. The type of spell that would be useful but wouldn’t cannibalise his title development because there was no way he would ever naturally develop a fire shield. Or maybe he would get, Chaos Bolt, likewise it was a spell he wouldn’t obtain through training but would boost his offensive ability.
Tom shook his head to clear it. Fantasising about the future was just plain silly. He would make those decisions once he had the coin to execute them after getting advice from Corrine, Throm, and April.
He threw the disk up for a final time fists clenching in anticipation.
It rolled across the ground and then fell flat.
A zero pointed up at the ceiling.
Tom stared at it in shock. After eight successes, it had come up as a negative. It was impossible to believe. He had been so certain and had almost been able to feel the prizes in his hands. And now, a single throw had taken that away. He was sick of squandering the opportunity that was this competition. He knew logically that the disks he was making for others were more important than any kills he could get with his spear and magic. The rewards for crafting would vastly exceed the winnings from successful duels, and then there was the wider impact they would have on humanity’s ranking points. It was easy to point at those facts, but he also wanted, no he needed to get coins the traditional way, and not just for pride it was necessary to guarantee that he could stay here until he hit fifteen.
Annoyance flared through him. Why had it taken eight throws to get to this result? The zero could have come on the first toss and saved him all this trouble. And also, why had he chosen to rely on nine throws instead of eight? If he had picked the lower number, then right now he would be earning his points.
Or was there more to it? It was an insidious thought, and not one he liked. He was very aware of his last fight against the drone controller and the unexpected win that had happened. It had been a similar situation to this one where there had been a whole string of yeses followed by a single no.
He picked up the disk and tossed it.
Another one faced the ceiling. Another positive.
Tom chuckled darkly. Nine out of ten was that good enough?
For what was basically a negative outcome, it was certainly an unusually high number of positives.
He wondered…
No, the disk itself couldn’t be at fault. Or could it. It was another one of those ideas which was hard to let go.
Was the disk weighted somehow?
Were these a result of basic physics causing it to always land on the same side. He picked it up and examined it closely with both his eyes, his sense of touch, and then by spinning it on his finger its balance. They were all negative, but he lived in a magical world and could go one step further. By using his Living Wood skill, he could sense intimate details of the internal structure. The wood wasn’t perfectly symmetrical, but it was good enough that there was no way it was influencing the results.
What he was seeing was just chance.
Tom threw it again and again. Until he had a second string of eight positives and then the ninth was a one as well.
It was too much.
He paused and stared at the disk suspiciously. He was not great at mathematics, but the chance of nine successful throws had to be something like one in a thousand or something like that. What were the odds of what had just occurred. How likely was it that there was an eight, a single negative, and then nine consecutive positives?
Spooked, he licked his lips and reassessed everything he knew.
The previous fight had begun with a partial result like this. That had been for a fight that, while his victory hadn’t been guaranteed had ended up being achieved. Today, he had flipped the disk eighteen times, and it had come up positive for seventeen of them.
What were the odds of that being natural?
He shrugged. He didn’t know, but it had to be astronomical.
His fate had been in play, and it could be responsible for the observed outcomes. But if so, what was it saying? That zero circle suggested a firm no. But… he remembered the partial success of the previous fight. Was that relevant here? Was this a stronger partial success?
Tom glanced around.
It was a very sterile and imposing, divine kind of space. Where was he standing? Was he still in DEUS’s domain? Could this be malicious or random chance, or his fate acting to create the unnatural outcome?
He threw it again and frowned at the result.
Angrily, he picked it up and tossed it over his head so that it struck the ceiling and then bounced to clatter loudly on the ground. That had to be a chaotic result. There was no way for his throwing style to have influenced the outcome.
Then he looked at it in disgust. It was the same result as the previous ten throws.
“DEUS please protect me from outside influence.” He prayed. He was not sure it would work. It was definitely not something that would get a result in Existentia, but here, maybe here she could act.
Slowly he went over and picked the disk up and examined it again. It was not perfectly symmetrical, but it was close. He tossed it up high with a lot of spin on it. It flew until it nearly touched the ceiling, and when it hit the floor, it bounced off at a forty-degree angle, tumbling even more than it had with his own throw. Whatever it came up with was down to random chance.
It was another positive result.
It seemed like an impossibility.
This was either his fate telling him something or an active external intervention. He refused to believe it was random.
The question was which one.
He glanced at the three doors and focused on the full GOD’s shield exit. He knew that was the one he should take, but out of the twenty-three flips he had twenty-two positives. That was no longer in the realms of casual chance.
It was a message.
“DEUS, if another GOD is doing this it has to be against some rule.”
There was no response, no answer, just as expected.
He glanced between the two doors. Sixteen versus one point. Death versus no damage.
Then he looked at the central door. That was a middle ground, but it was not the solution. It only became valid if you had a reliable way to kill yourself even under a mental assault strike designed to incapacitate you and prevent suicide. Something like instantly frying your brain, which would be restored when the partial shield kicked into action. Something absolute and instant like that.
That was not the answer for him, at least not today, as he had no spell that could do that. It had to be one of the other doors. Death versus life. Profit versus nearly nothing.
This is silly, he thought. A single zero meant he was supposed to immediately choose the full GOD’s shield door. He didn’t know why he had even flipped again, but…
Fourteen consecutive ones after that negative. Fate or an enemy was the only explanation? Could a foe affect him here against DEUS’s wishes?
That, Tom realised was the real question.
And did his fate expenditure allow for partial signals? And how did the two humans die? That concerned him. If an enemy could act in this space, then he could see someone being influenced, or more precisely, tricked by a trap like this. When you relied on fate to guide you and then got fourteen positives in a row caused by an outside force, then it was easy to make a fatal mistake.
“I don’t know what to do.” He called out hopefully and silence greeted him. There wasn’t even a flutter in his emotions that might have been caused by an external influence.
He flipped it again and after bouncing multiple times while switching sides it settled with the one pointing up.
Tom looked at the two doors. Then down at the disk. He was pretty confident he understood what was happening here. He clutched it to his chest. The answer was right here in front of him. Hope and righteous anger warred within him and a furious, unyielding resolve.
There was no need to take anything on faith.
He was not like the other humans. Victims that he suspected when exposed to a situation like the one that he was in had been tricked. It was easy enough to imagine. They just had to do what he had one. A single curious extra toss and then getting sucked in by a sting of improbable outcomes.
Tom held the disk and faced the door that had no GOD’s shield. This was a reckoning. Fifteen consecutive positives were an undisputable message.
He psyched himself. The conviction settled deep into his core. He would walk through there. Enter the fight without a GOD’s shield and win.
“You can do this.” he shouted the words like a drill sergeant.
His feet didn’t move.
“Come on Tom. Two steps and then you can get spatial storage.”
Doubts plagued him.
But he knew better. He needed to do this. Even with time shenanigans happening in this place he couldn’t delay forever.
He was more capable than the humans who had died. There was no point in delaying he just had to do it. Two steps was all it would take and fifteen consecutive positives were not something to ignore.
Determinedly, he took a confident step forward and then doubled over in shock as the disk in his hands activated. The feeling of threat and doom that hung over his head was more intense than anything he had ever felt.
He fell helplessly to his knees overwhelmed by the warning that was being sent.
He vomited noisily but came up smiling.
“I was right,” he whispered in triumph. It was a test, and he had succeeded.
His guess had been correct, and he had called the bluff. He had made the fatal decision and been validated by the disk reacting to save him.
There was so much unknown about his previous life. The memory gaps worried him. The fact that entire species of natives were being sent to personally hunt him terrified him. And that this had happened.
But while there had been personal experiences stolen from him he knew all the rules of the competition. He recognised the breach. The GODs should not have been able to target him. Maybe it was another situation like the bats, but he didn’t think it was likely. The idea that hostile fate from a mortal ritual could reach him in something named the Divine Champions Trial seemed absurd. Which meant there was only one explanation for the behaviour where he had tossed the disk those extra fifteen times.
“Sprung,” he whispered as he stared up at the ceiling, a wild grin on his face. “Sprung,” he repeated. He had called the bluff to make sure there was no doubt. “I know a GOD just targeted me.” He declared. “This is against the rules of the competition.”
He wasn’t sure why, but part of him was screaming at him that it was significant that he knew about the attention. In some bizarre way, related to those missing memories, him knowing was more significant than their actual actions. By stating that certainty out loud, he forced something significant. He inexplicably was certain of that.
Now what? The thought whispered in his head. What did breaching the rules mean? Were their consequences? There had to be, but how could he maximise the benefit?
“SUPREME, I would like DEUS to determine the compensation and maybe part of it could be used to solve the problem I’m facing in the real world.”
DEUS was smart she would know exactly what he was referring to.
“Thank you for listening. I’m going to go fight now.”
He stood up turned around and then walked straight at the safe door. The moment he did, so he was encompassed by pure love. It was fluffy pillows, warm sunshine and excitable puppies. For a lingering moment, that was all there was. Those feelings swamped out everything else. The terror that had accompanied his disk activating was gently pushed away and even some of his anger at what had happened was dissipated. Then after too short of a moment the attention withdrew and left him with the impression of amused approval. DEUS was happy with what he had done, and she was going to get her pound of flesh.
Despite his intentions, Tom found himself unable to continue. The moment had been too beautiful to wilfully ignore. For over a minute, he stood there with tears running down his face, basking in the afterglow of that contact. The risk had been worth it.
Then he went through the door ready to face the monstrosity that waited for him. The ritual he had created with fate guiding him and now infused with over a hundred points of precognition affinity mana was not going to be wrong. Fully protected with a GOD’s shield Tom was excited to see what a GOD had tried to trick him into fighting.
Comments
Annachie
If it were possible it would already be in the files in the isolation rooms.
Nimps
I am so excited to see the gods perspective chapter. Holy shit yes it's going to be good! Haha
Arnon Parenti
I was afraid he'd read it the opposite way, that a GOD was trying to make him take the full shield and lose on coins, so he would try to fight and pay for it.
Arnon Parenti
Humanity owes Tom for about a quarter of their competition points, they can spare him some Traits and special Domain trails.
Arnon Parenti
I don't understand why Tom thinks Chaos Bolt is beyond him, his highest affinity supports the Chaos line of spells, all he needs is the road map. Kids don't get to play with the Chaos spells because it would make the orphanage into a worse death trap than Hogwart's school of Magic and Wizardry, but I bet if he asked Everlyn she'd get it for him. He already has the sense, manipulate and create 0 tier skills, all he needs now are the channel (static shock), direct (plasma trail) and burst (spark equivalent), and he can probably also get a shield before moving to the T1 Bolt and t2 spear. With 95.6 affinity they should come easier for him than water was to Brianna.
Arnon Parenti
Tom should consider a Priest 3rd or 4th Class
Sanderson
Great chapter, thanks! I hope you are feeling better.
James Faulkner
Goddamn, I’m hyped for the GOD perspective chapter that shows DEUS getting even for this one lol
FeyOne
Shannon, I think it all depends on the story and the characters. I've certainly experienced that feeling of, "oh gads... why is the author still writing about this!", before with some stories; so I certainly understand what you are saying. For me, though, part of what matters is how well whatever is happening fits the character/characters involved, and how well it fit's the actual story. For Tom, this entire process was just perfectly him, and it was perfect for what needed to happen, (a mortal managing to expose a god's meddling). That said, I'm just one reader. I'm sure that once you start writing and really find your voice, however you write will work for you and the stories you want to tell. Likewise, I'm sure that when that happens, you will also find the audience that appreciates your style. :) After all, the realism that I really enjoy in this story, and some others, has also been the focus of major criticism by readers who dislike it at least as much as I like it.
Shannon Sexton
Thanks for the comment. Makes me realise, what's a little too verbose for me, is just right for someone else. I am considering writing something myself, so glad to hear other perspectives.
Shannon Sexton
I see where you're coming from Arnon, but I see it as... MAKROS unhinged, and the rest are just playing with mortals. FAMES is willing to play along as it suits as are others as it's part of the game. DEUS and maybe one or two other gods actually care for their people as we would a pet.
Tom
Imagine the confrontation with Eden and Dim next week: "How did you get another million points?" "Uuh... I may have called out the gods for cheating and told SUPREME that DEUS could bargain on my behalf" (-.-) (-.-)
FeyOne
This was an amazing chapter from start to finish, and I loved every second of it. It was also just so well written. Logically, I was sure that Tom had to end up picking the "complete gods shield" door, but emotionally I honestly didn't know what he was going to do. I was completely invested in every sentence, and I literally wanted to cheer when he spoke out loud to call out the meddling god and then called upon SUPREME to do his job and correct the problem. I can't wait for the next several chapters so we can find out what happens next. :)
FeyOne
Shannon, absolutely! It's one of the things that makes me love this author and this story so much. Every decision, every action, every character is so absolutely believable to me. Even when characters are making "dumb" decisions, and I find myself frustrated by by how some character is acting... I can't ever bring myself to fault it because it is always true to whoever that character is and actually makes sense in the context of how a real person in that situation would be acting. It really is amazing how deep all of the characters are, and how real all of their actions are because of that.
FeyOne
I agree that FAMES and MAKROSS can't stand Tom, and MAKROSS in particular actively hates him for not only his part in killing MAKROSS's chosen but also for Tom's having actually briefly spied on MAKROSS through True Dreaming. My feeling about INNECTIS and WADOR, though, is different. I think that INNCETIS probably respects Tom and though he considers him a threat, I don't think he hates him or would even approve of the sort of focused targeting of Tom and FAMES and MAKROSS seem to be doing. As for WADOR, I don't think we actually know that he thinks about Tom. We know that some of the Wador, themselves, actively hated Tom because they believed that he had chosen to cause harm in a way that they viewed to be dishonorable/evil/bad; but it also seemed like a number of that same group actively respected him and that their targeting of him wasn't really a personal thing, but instead based on their own focus on doing well in the competition for their own people. Past that, SANTOS actively supports Tom, and some mystery god seems to have blessed/cursed him as well, (the rage), but we don't know if that's DEUS or someone else. So on balance, Tom likely has about as much support from amongst the gods as he does enemies. That all aside, however all the godly politics plays out... MAKROSS, (most likely one behind the targeting in my opinion as I don't think FAMES is invested enough to have taken this risk... though I can't wait to find out in future chapters), or whoever, obviously never expected that he would not only get caught with his meddling but get caught and called out so thoroughly. Tom probably just changed the ranking ladder again with that one action, and it was absolutely awesome. :)
Eli Gray
Tom sticking it to the gods, directly is such a great callback to him messing up their actual meetings. Love it
Arnon Parenti
My interpretation is WADOOR hates Tom for hitting down, FAMES hates everything and Tom got their attention on a personal level, the Giant would have probably killed everyone with ease if not for Tom's Fate Spike, that ring was devastating and bridged a 100 ranks gap in a single action, I can see INNECTIS taking this in either way as he is an honor the results kind of GOD, but he could also take it personally against Tom for enabling weaklings to hit so far above their power curve.
Allan Greenwood
I'm not sure about the last two. The giant elminated all the strong insects under him and a couple of the wador (people) hated him. I'm not sure the GODs had the same opinion. FAMES also probably doesn't care to much he was just supporting MAKROS. MAKROS is the crazy one
Arnon Parenti
SUPREME said the next GOD caught in wholesale slaughter gets him as an active nemesis on Existentia itself, having their competing race wiped and worse, so no single orphanage or human town could be worth it.
Amazon Shopper
tftc
Arnon Parenti
We don't know which GOD interfered, Tom was kind enough to annoy 4 of the 7, and have another "bless" him. FAMES (Insects), MAKROSS (Dragon), INNECTIS (Giant) and WADOR (Wador), hate Tom and fear him, it could be a representative of either one of them, or an insane SANATORIES representative.
Shannon Sexton
Sometimes I find Tom's thought process a bit too much, but then I remember how realistic this is. Important decisions are like this, and at least Tom's lead to immediate feedback!
Nic Neal
It’s a neat way of resolving the Bri situation so she can fall under the same protection as an incarnator although if there is such blatant cheating by a god already it needs be be curtailed otherwise the next chapter becomes… a great flaming rock obliterated the whole orphanage… the end. (They are gods after all and there are a million species in the world)
Tom
It would be interesting if it's a representative of the Insect's Sponsor, but the Dragon's Sponsor interfered to get rid of Tom.
Krzysztof Kiel
I was so worried there, going without shield was so impatient and stupid
im Panda
What a cool chapter. From start to end I was invested
Arnon Parenti
I love how it had to still be Tom's decision so the meddling GOD had to let those nines slip.
Arnon Parenti
He still gets to read the summary for his opponent, so he knows who's representative they are and if they were killers or not.
Tom
"Tom was excited to see what a GOD had tried to trick him into fighting." What are the odds he won't remember anything after going through the door? Wasn't that the case for a couple others who used Gods shields and would have received horrific mental/soul damage?
Arnon Parenti
MAKROSS keeps underestimating DEUS' Chosen.
